Date Night

Dan and I had a nice date on Saturday. It was a mixture of a Christmas present, my birthday, and Valentine’s Day. For Christmas, Dan gave us three tickets to see the musical The Color Purple at the Fabulous Fox in downtown St. Louis. The plan was to take Katie with us for her first show at the Fox. But Friday night, we found out online that the show is not recommended for kids under age 10. We got a refund for her ticket, then dropped the kids off at Grandma and Poppy’s.

Dan and I drove downtown and had a nice, leisurely lunch at the Schlafly Brewery’s Tap Room. Our appetizer was warm beer bread with a creamed blue cheese spread and a tasty garlic butter. Oh, yum! We both had a refreshing beer, then our meals arrived. Mine was a Turkey Monte Cristo, but it was an odd spin on your regular Monte Cristo. It had cranberry chutney, brie, and turkey on brioche (French bread). And THEN it was deep-fried. And then? It had powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Yes, really. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but it was actually pretty tasty (and not at ALL low-fat!). I could only eat half of it because it was so big. Dan had their Cuban, which was large and yummy too. We sat for more than an hour and ate, and discussed our futures and some of the weight on Dan’s shoulders. I really enjoyed myself.

After lunch, we went to the show at the Fox Theater. I liked it, although it was very different from the movie. I read the book a few years back and don’t remember enough details to compare the musical to the book. But Dan’s opinion of the musical wasn’t very good at all. He rated it a four out of ten. I think that’s because The Color Purple is his very favorite movie of all time (and I’ve mentioned before), and it would be very hard for anything to live up to that for him. I will agree with him on one aspect, though: it was disappointing that not even one song from the movie was in the musical. No Miss Celie’s Blues, and not even Speak to Me/Maybe God’s Trying to Tell You Something. Nope! And I think that lost song is pretty pivotal (at least in the movie) to show the character development for Shug Avery. I was disappointed that it wasn’t in the musical.

After the show, my sweet husband humored me by standing around while I took photos of the Fox Theater (you can see him in the first photo below). I had written Michelle Sidles in advance and asked her for tips on shooting in dark places, and got some decent results. Here are my favorite shots:

 

 

The staff at the Fox Theater was not amused by my lingering to take photos, and they quickly shooed us out the door. Actually, “shoo” is a nice word. They weren’t that nice.

We left the theater and went to a local favorite, Crown Candy. We stood in a line that was almost out the door, then decided to get our treats to go. I got a delicious hot fudge pecan sundae, and Dan got a milkshake. It was fantastic.

Our bellies were still full from lunch and dessert, so we headed to the International Tap House for some beverages. It’s owned by a college friend, and this weekend was the first birthday of the bar. We ran into some friends there and stayed for the rest of the night talking and listening to live music.

Dan and I both needed some time away to relax and unwind. This day helped our mental outlook tremendously. Thank God for grandparents who will watch our kids so we can have adult time together!